The Metaphysics of Prejudice

My head always spins at the harm people purposefully do to each other with no concern for and sometimes little awareness of the depth of pain they cause. And one can only wonder about the pain they must already be in to perpetrate such abuse on another. It makes me think about the long legacy of violence and hatred that has been handed down through the centuries and the many empires that have risen to power because of it. I think about how this continues to manifest itself in everyday experience through some of our television shows, music, wars, laws, cultural traditions, social injustices, etc. Racism, sexism, classism, and a whole bunch of other “isms” continue to fuel abuse, oppression and predjudice. Why is it so difficult to resolve these issues? [Read more]

Autism: Unexpected Scientific Discoveries and the Metaphysics Behind Them

An article on the Discover web site and the publisher’s print magazine revealed that the traditional views of autism as a genetic disorder originating in the brain are changing. New discoveries reveal that autism is possibly a neuroinflammatory disorder that is also linked to the immune system and “the gut”.

Autism, as you may have heard, is on the rise at an alarming rate. So are many other disorders, including those no one knows about until the commercials for the wonder drugs that manage those disorders are aired on television. Is it a coincidence that we are plagued with so many diseases and disorders? No. As we continue to pollute our bodies (and the planet) with increasingly toxic food, air, water, politics, cultural habits, etc, I hardly see the great mystery behind our exploding health crisis. In a piece I posted some years ago on our country’s Disorder Disorder - the disorder of having many disorders - I touched on the need for us to start addressing the larger health issues (including emotional and spiritual health issues) that surely underly our crises. [Read more]

Disorders, Diseases and Syndromes, Oh My!

In the past five or ten years, it seems like a hundred new so-called disorders, diseases and syndromes have been discovered. Restless Leg Syndrome is the most recent I’ve seen advertised on TV (well, it was the medication they were advertising, not the syndrome). What I find amazing is that there is no widespread concern about the fact that everybody seems to have the “Disorder Disorder”–which is the disorder of having many disorders. Surely, someone besides myself thinks this plethora of newly discovered disorders is odd and indicative of a much larger health issue that needs to be addressed. [Read more]

No Meditation Allowed

In the process of setting up a meditation program at a certain biomedical research university on the upper east side of Manhattan, I was politely told, “Unfortunately I need to ask that you cancel your meditation class… since your stated usage violates the University Policy on Use of University Premises and Facilities…”, etc., etc. The funny thing is, just months ago, the same university spent money creating special canopied areas with benches designated for smoking. But no meditation allowed. [Read more]